Alternative to Beyerdynamic DT880!

Your iPhone most certainly is not capable of driving the Beyer to its full potential. I think before you consider buying any new headphones, invest in an amp and see the difference. Perhaps the boost in dynamics that you might experience with the Beyer will be enough to make it work for the other genres as well. With 200 EUR, you have a lot of choice but perhaps at first it would be best to invest in something really cheap, just to see how it improves the performance of the Beyer.

Screaming for a grado recommendation.  It's a toss up based on however much you want to spend from there.

On their website, Fiio recommends that the E11 be used with headphone impedances of 16~300Ω. This does not mean that the amp won't be able to drive your 600 Ohm Beyer, but it seems unlikely that it will do a great job at it. If you like Fiio, their E9 does support headphone impedances up to 600 ohms.

I think you might actually be shocked by the immense improvement in sound you'll experience with an amp. In most cases, the advantages of amps are overexagerrated by their owners due to confirmation bias; however, you most definitely do need a headphone amp to drive a 600 ohm headphone. The difference will be immediately audible.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alpha-Pinguin 

I think about 500€ for the HP

Is a Fiio E11 good enough as the Amp.?

What about an AT W1000x?

G.... G....G...

GRADO.

There I said it.

Just get the model you want to pay for and you might be done with it once and for all.

But seriously you're abusing those DT880's. They really need an amp. You'll get the volume because they'll run at the correct voltage, but you won't be able to run them power wise...

Seriously just buy an iBasso D4+ and be AMAZED at what you get!

http://ibasso.com/en/products/show.asp?ID=44

It also comes with a DAC in case you want to run the amp from a PC, you'll get an excellent quality audio signal if you plug it into a computer if you're not familliar with DAC's.

The sound you want is from an AKG K601 as far as the lively mids and tight bass would go, but it will bring your iPod amp to its knees. A less refined sound would be one of the Grado cans in the lower price ranges, SR60 to SR125. My Grado SR60 was very easy to drive, but from a top quality amp the K601 walks all over Grado as far as refinement goes.

Don't expect you will find much with more treble response than a DT880 and still a natural sound. Better scratch that requirement off your list.

The K601 is a Monkey Bone Reference Can, perfect for rock/pop that is beat based, but you have to find a way to drive it. My headamp set me back $650, but it has an inboard DAC and variable analog output, so it can function as a preamp, but is not for portable use.

If you need DT880 level of comfort, I'm afraid Grado isn't going to please you. I got rid of my Grado cans because of comfort issues, not to mention the less refined sound. Just find a good 200 Euro headamp and the K601 will blow you away and will be as comfortable as a DT880.

Hey all, I ghave been bitten by the Head-fi bug . I am currently deciding between the Beyerdynamic DT 880 pro (250 ohm) , The Sennheiser 598's, and the AKG K601... Thinking of buying an ibasso amp/dac. I Run an ipod touch 3g and i am partial to jazz, rock, metal, hip hop, blues  ( Coheed and Cambria, The black keys, BassNectar, Glitchmob, phillip glass, bird, miles davis, Aesop Rock, De La Soul, Dir En Grey, White Stripes ) Those kinds of things. My budget is about 500 and I have Tried the Beyerdynamics and love the comfort and the nice cavernous sound stage. Any suggestions/ opinions that would help ease my decission are very greatly appriciated!

FOrgot to mention that mobility is an absolute must but i am willing to carry around an amp/dac and big headphones ;) 

I have the DT880 as well and yes it does need an amp to sound it's best. I used a E7/E9 combo and it does sound alright. I was also looking for something more exciting and with more vocals/mids. The DT880 was very good for listening to soft easy music but definitely not an exciting headphone.

So in the end I chose the Shure SHR-940 .. and man these does a  way better job at mids. They are just much better then then 880 overall for enjoyment. I have since sold my DT880 as well as my M50 .. both of which I find missing the mids or vocal presentation. Highs and bass i find just right. it's just such a jack of all trades .. anything sort of music I thrown at it has sounded good .. as well as enough bass for movies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by joey99 

I have the DT880 as well and yes it does need an amp to sound it's best. I used a E7/E9 combo and it does sound alright. I was also looking for something more exciting and with more vocals/mids. The DT880 was very good for listening to soft easy music but definitely not an exciting headphone.

*Shakes head* Just wait until you get an amp!

I have been a Grado fan, and still am, but I would actually suggest the DT 880 600ohm, which I own is quite good for rock. When you get down to the nitty-gritty, the vast majority of rock music is not exactly well recorded with punishing highs and mids. I actually like how the DT880 steps the mids back just enough that previously hard to enjoy rock albums I can now listen to. I really like my HF2, but with rock despite the Grado is the rock HP think, I have to say I think the 880 beats the HF2 for listenability. Now for really well recorded music and jazz in particular, then the HF2 is quite stunning. As far as I am concerned there is not enough detail worth retrieving from most rock albums so the tilted mids and highs from Grado in my mind actually play to a weakness in rock, but what do I know?

I found the 880 quite a bit better from my Valhalla with rock compared to the HF2 due to the extra energy the Valhalla has in the mids. The HF2 and Valhalla combo just wasn't able to present as listenable an experience with hard rock such as Tool as was the 880/Valhalla combo. I don't think the impedence mismatch issue with the HF2/Valhalla explains this as when I listened to other styles of music where the mids don't come at you in a wall as with hard rock, that even through the Valhalla the HF2s were really, really nice i.e. with Steely Dan's Two Against Nature, Tears for Fears Sowing The Seeds of Love, Peter Gabriel Up.

Anyway, all I am trying to say is that the DT880s are very good for rock and should not be overlooked. I concur that the OP is likely not feeding the 880s with enough voltage.

How about ATH AD900? It has great midrange without amp, good for jazz & rock. also, It won't hurt your wallet much.

I switch to it when get bored with DT880. 

and switch back when i want more bass kick.

The K601 is an excellent rock/metal headphone, but the bass can be lacking for kick drums. The soundstage is also very big and open with a great deal of air. The headphone itself is very valve like in it's presentation with the smooth highs, lush mid band, and rounded bass.